As supporters of US military operations in Afghanistan scramble to board America’s planes to leave Kabul as Afghan Taliban quickly took control of the capital, US troops opened fire to Afghan civilians to clear the runway for the taking off of its planes.
One witness said he had seen the bodies of five people being taken to a vehicle. Another witness said it was not clear whether the victims were killed by gunshots or in a stampede.
U.S. troops, who are in charge of the airport, earlier fired in the air to scatter the crowd, a U.S. official revealed.
Thousands of civilians desperate to flee Afghanistan thronged Kabul airport on Monday after the Taliban seized the capital, prompting the U.S. military to suspend evacuations as the United States came under mounting criticism at home over its pullout.
Crowds converged on the airport seeking to escape, including some clinging to a U.S. military transport plane as it taxied on the runway, according to footage posted by a media company. Five people were killed in the chaos.
The Taliban’s rapid conquest of Kabul follows the U.S. withdrawal of troops after 20 years of war that cost billions of dollars.
President Joe Biden defended his decision to pull out, ending the United States’ longest war, arguing that Afghan forces had to fight back against the Islamist Taliban.
But the speed at which Afghan cities fell in just days and the likely crackdowns on freedom of speech and women’s rights gained in 20 years have sparked angry criticism.
“If President Biden truly has no regrets about his decision to withdraw, then he is disconnected from reality when it comes to Afghanistan,” a Twitter post from Republican Senator Lindsey Graham read.
Republican Representative Jim Banks, a member of the House armed services committee, said on Fox News that Biden should explain his actions to the American people.
“What was more shocking to me than the images coming out of Afghanistan is what’s happening right here at home,” he said.
“We have never seen an American leader abdicate his responsibilities and leadership like Joe Biden has. He’s in hiding. The lights are on at the White House, but nobody’s home. Where is Joe Biden?”
Jim Messina, a White House deputy chief of staff under former President Barack Obama, defended Biden’s move.
“There’s been bipartisan consensus that it was time to get out of Afghanistan, Mike Pompeo, the former Secretary of State, said earlier this month he supported Biden’s plan, and we’ve been there 20 years. It’s America’s longest-running war, it is time to get out,” he said on Fox.
“Why should American troops be fighting a civil war that Afghan troops this week refused to fight for themselves, it was time to get out.”
